SGU Episode 56

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SGU Episode 56
August 15th 2006
(brief caption for the episode icon)
SGU 55                      SGU 57
Skeptical Rogues
S: Steven Novella
B: Bob Novella
R: Rebecca Watson
E: Evan Bernstein
P: Perry DeAngelis
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Show Notes
Forum Discussion

Introduction

You're listening to the Skeptics' Guide to the Universe, your escape to reality.

S: Hello and welcome to the Skeptic Guide to the Universe. This is your host, Steven Novella, president of the New England Skeptical Society. Today is Tuesday, August 15^th, 2006. Joining me this evening are Rebecca Watson...

R: Hey everybody!

S: Bob Novella...

B: Hey everyone!

S: Evan Bernstein...

E: Hi out there!

S: ...and Perry DeAngelis.

P: Right.

S: How are you all this evening?

P: Very good.

B: Good Steve.

E: Excellent. Fantastic.

S: We have a great interview this week. Ken Fader, a Skeptical Archaeologist. We'll be on in just a moment, but first a couple news items and emails.

News Items

Attitudes toward Evolution Survey (0:54)

• scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2006/08/put_the_blame_where_it_belongs.php
  

S: I know you all have seen the survey about attitudes towards evolution that was published recently, where the United States finished almost dead last in terms of support for evolution.

P: How unusual.

S: The United States came out around 40% false, 20% not sure and 40% true.

P: I blame religion.

S: The only country that did worse than us was Turkey.

R: Take that Turkey. Sorry.

S: The Scandinavians that were towards the top, Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, were near the top at around 80%.

P: Very fair and bright people.

E: In many ways.

P: Yeah, you know, I mean, what are you going to do? So we're a bunch of backward baboons. I mean, isn't that proof enough?

R: And didn't that survey show that England was kind of creeping up on us too?

S: The UK was near the top. They were around 70%.

R: Their numbers have gotten worse in the past few years.

S: It's a long way to go, though. So they're going to long fall before they get to us.

R: I think we're importing our religion.

E: Is this the first time they've done a survey like this? For instance, 20 years ago, maybe only 30% of the population believed in the truth of evolution and maybe we've increased since then.

S: It's been remarkably steady over the last 30, 40 years.

E: Yeah.

P: So the seaming rise of the religious right hasn't really impacted the number. That's surprising.

S: It hasn't. It actually has not.

P: That's surprising.

S: It's good to know. There's no way we beat out Turkey.

P: That's wonderful.

E: One down, 40 to go.

B: I want to blow this country. It's disgusting.

S: And move to Iceland?

P: Yeah, that's all. Blow this bird and move to Iceland. Why not?

S: No, but this country needs us, right? Where else we're more needed than it is.

B: I could do the podcast from Iceland.

S: We could.

R: Also, they have, they have Bjork.

P: I think that's true. That's true. They do.

Water Tree (2:51)

• upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060817-022000-8116r

S: Other skeptical news this week. You guys heard it. I know you guys have seen the mysterious water spouting tree in San Antonio, Texas.

R: You could ever imagine that a tree could have water in it. (laughter) It's a miracle! Run for your lives.

P: This was only leaking. I said, we were talking about this briefly off air and Rebecca said it was owned by a woman. In fact, she's correct. [inaudible] is the owner of the tree. I, like I said, I've seen it on television. It's squirting like, the best way I could explain is if you were to squirt water through your teeth at a pretty good clip. That's how the water's coming out of the tree.

S: Yeah, the steady stream of water. This is a hundred year old red oak tree. And so far-

P: It's in San Antonio, Texas.

S: -they're not really sure how this is happening. The leading hypotheses so far are that there is some kind of water pressure under the tree, whether it's well or just an underwater spring. And there must be some channel in the tree for whatever reason. And it's pushing the water up through this channel and out a hole on the side of the tree. Of course, the popes are subscribed to the hypothesis that this is miracle water.

E: Miracle water.

R: A perfectly logical hypothesis. Don't dismiss it.

S: Lucille insisted God bless the tree for the water to come out. And I say whatever god makes is good.

E: And did she mention which god?

S: She did not.

E: It's too bad.

P: Poseidon?

R: Let's not go running to science without first considering the possibility that it's magic.

P: Occam's razor would lead you right to the conclusion that it's Jesus.

S: How can you argue with this logic? She says: "Water runs down. It don't run up." So there you go. It must be an miracle.

E: Except in Neil Adams's world.

S: That's almost as profound as no atoms.

P: That's penetrating logic. I must admit. It's hard to get by.

R: Can it also just be a burst water pipe?

S: That was a suggestion too. There might be a burst water pipe underneath there. Something is putting this water under pressure. That's all you need.

P: And they ruled out broken water mains. And a hydrologist who tested the water said he couldn't tell the difference between the water issuing from the tree and the aquifer in the area.

S: Right.

P: Under the underground water base.

S: So it's just the water table.

P: Like you said, there's obviously some kind of pressure under there. Some channel in the tree.

R: Maybe a magical channel. Just putting that out there, not saying it's bad.

S: Obviously, I mean, come on. We all know this isn't god. Obviously it's leprechauns, please. Let's not avoid the obvious conclusion here.

B: I'm convinced.

S: Now-

P: Druids, tree sprites.

Questions and E-mails ()

Abiogenic Origin for Oil ()

I work in the oilfield industry, and I thought of a controversy for you. Have you ever heard of the abiotic or abiogenic origin of oil (see for instance en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abiogenic_petroleum_origin)? It seems to be prevalent in some Russian oilfield related circles. I do not believe it to be sound science, but it is intriguing to see it appear every now and then, albeit rarely, in otherwise 'informed' circles. Is this a topic that is sometimes discussed in the skeptics' community?

Best regards,

Stephane Virally
Paris, France

Dinosaur Petroglyphs ()

Do you have any idea what this petroglyph might be depicting? Creationist websites claim it is a dinosaur. See www.bible.ca/tracks/native-american-dino-art.htm

Thanks very much.
Peggy Hall

Acupuncture ()

In response to the question of which phenomena that were once denied by skeptics but have since become scientifically verified:

I think acupuncture is a perfect example (and one of a very few I could think of). It was as ridiculed and placed in the same category as current pseudoscientific practices but has since been accepted by physicians and the scientific community as effective. Now in regards to the theory of why it works, you could say the 'chi' model is still in the realm of
pseudoscience, but nonetheless the actual practice seems to work.

Haig Shahinian
California

Interview with Ken Feder ()

• Author: Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries: Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeology
  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/076742722X/002-1805300-9476801?v=glance&n=283155
  
  Feder obtained his B.A. in anthropology in 1973 from the State University of New York at Stonybrook. He obtained his M.A. in anthropology in 1975 from the University of Connecticut and his Ph.D. from the same institution in 1982. He has taught in the Department of Anthropology at Central Connecticut State University since 1977 where he is now a full professor. His primary research interests focus on the archaeology of the native peoples of New England and in the analysis of public perceptions about the human past. He is the founder and director of the Farmington River Archaeological Project, a long-term investigation of the prehistory of the Farmington River Valley. He is the author and co-author of several books including: Human Antiquity: An Introduction to Physical Anthropology and Archaeology (with Michael Park; now in its fourth edition); Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries: Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeology (now in its fourth edition); A Village of Outcasts: Historical Archaeology and Documentary Research at the Lighthouse Site; and The Past In Perspective: An Introduction to Human Prehistory (in its third edition). He also is the co-editor of and contributor of two chapters to the most recent (seventh) edition of Field Methods In Archaeology; and he is the editor of Lessons From the Past: An Introductory Reader in Archaeology and co-editor (with David Poirier) of the book, Dangerous Places: Health and Safety in Archaeology. His latest book, Linking to the Past: A Brief Introduction to Archaeology has just been published by Oxford University Press. When he's not digging in the dirt or writing books, he likes to hang out with his one wife, two kids, and three cats.
  
  
  Kennewick Man legal update: www.physorg.com/news74502213.html
  

Name That Logical Fallacy ()

• Logical Fallacies

First, I want to say I love your podcast and it is my favorite skeptical podcast.

I have an example of what I think is a logical fallacy, but I'm not sure what type it is.

In a discussion of artificial nails, one person in the group insisted that rich women (especially those with 'old money') never get fake nails. The person said she could always spot fake nails and she never saw them on the rich women she knew.

Several people argued with her and one person called her argument the 'toupee fallacy' - she knew a man who insisted he could always spot a toupee, so he always knew whether or not a guy had one. She told him he couldn't know that - he probably could spot an obvious toupee, but how did he know that there weren't people he saw who looked like they had their own hair but were actually wearing a very realistic toupee.

Is this a valid logical fallacy? If so, what category of fallacy is it?

Thanks.
Laurel Kristick
Oregon, USA

Science or Fiction ()

Question #1: At a currently ongoing meeting of the International Astronomical Union in Prague, astronomers have decided to strip Pluto of the title of planet. Henceforth Pluto will be designated an ice dwarf. Question #2: NASA has lost the original footage of the Apollo 11 crew landing on the moon. A search for the lost footage is under way. Question #3: New study finds that women's sex drive plummets once they are in a stable relationship.

Skeptical Puzzle ()

Last Week's puzzle:

He was born in the late 1800's in the eastern region of the Austro-Hungarian empire (Ukraine). After fighting in WWI he studied medicine in Vienna. By age 21, he began a private practice as an 'analytic psychiatrist' and was considered a pioneer in the study of human sexuality.

During his research, he believed he had discovered a 'unique energetic life force'. He claimed it was present in all of nature, and was a death defying entity. He attempted to apply his 'life force' theory to research in medical endeavors such as cancer treatment, although he was largely ignored and often criticized by the mainstream scientific community - criticism he took as personal attacks.

He immigrated to the United States just as World War II was beginning. His advocacy of the alleged therapeutic benefits of his life force based inventions (such as a life force detector) caused him legal trouble with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. He died on at the age of 60 in a US Federal Penitentiary. He was jailed for criminal contempt because he refused to obey an injunction against selling quack medical devices.

Who was he, and what was the name of the life force he claimed to have discovered?

Answer: Wilhem Reich, Orgone


No new puzzle this week, but there will be puzzles in future episodes.

S: The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe is produced by the New England Skeptical Society. For information on this and other podcasts, please visit our website at www.theskepticsguide.org. Please send us your questions, suggestions, and other feedback; you can use the "Contact Us" page on our website, or you can send us an email to info@theskepticsguide.org. 'Theorem' is produced by Kineto and is used with permission.

References